Two Mecklenburg County judges pleaded guilty to misdemeanor notary law violations on Friday.

District Court judges Roderick Davis and Shanté Burke-Hayer committed the violations before they were elected — when they shared an office space in May 2022, a news release said. The charges came after an investigation by the North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State, when Burke-Hayer’s client filed a complaint.

Davis pleaded guilty to administering an oath without a principal and two counts of taking an acknowledgment without a principal.

Burke-Hayer pleaded guilty to aiding/abetting administering an oath without a principal and two counts of aiding/abetting taking an acknowledgment without a principal. In a news release, her attorney Harold Cogdell Jr. said Burke-Hayer helped to get three related documents notarized without the person who signed them present.

In court, their lawyers acknowledged that both violated state statutes. There was no bad intent, they said.

Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather prosecuted the case. It was significant because of the way it might diminish people’s confidence in the North Carolina notary seal, he said in Superior Court Friday.

“The real thing is about the integrity of the notary seal,” Merriweather told Judge Larry Wilson, a retired chief district court judge from outside Mecklenburg County.

Judges’ punishment for misdemeanors

Wilson placed Burke-Hayer and Davis on 90 days of unsupervised probation. They must not commit any new violations, and they must speak to a notary class about the importance of being a “stickler” when complying with statute.

He granted a conditional discharge, which means that, if they succeed in probation, their convictions will be dismissed.

Merriweather also brought the issue to the North Carolina State Bar, he said in court.

A statement from the law firm representing Burke-Hayer said that she acted in haste and made a mistake.

“I am pleased to have closure,” she said in the statement. “No one is above the law, and I accept responsibility for my conduct. This resolution will allow my professional attention to remain squarely focused on my continued service to the parties that appear before me. I desire nothing more than to remain steadfast in my commitment to serving our community as a hardworking, fair, and impartial jurist.”

It’s been a lesson for her, she added.

Davis’ attorney, Norman Butler, declined to comment.